


Bath Bomb

by onlyganymede



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Batkids interacting, Brotherly Love, Crafts, F/M, Fluff, Gift Giving, Glitter, Marinette at Gotham U, Sibling Bonding, bath bombs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-24 19:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30077109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyganymede/pseuds/onlyganymede
Summary: Damian Wayne is working on a gift for his girlfriend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Reluctant at first to ask for help, Damian finds that Jason Todd is an unexpectedly handy resource.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 10
Kudos: 117





	Bath Bomb

Somewhere in the childhood of Damian Wayne, he had missed out on the opportunity to mess around with play-dough. To build sandcastles. To roll snowballs into snowmen. He had never made mud pies, and had certainly never been given freedom in the kitchen to make real pies.

In the early adulthood of Damian Wayne, he was still not allowed in Alfred’s kitchen to make pies.

Not, of course, that he would ever want to. It’s just that now, in the middle of this project, he wished he had had _some_ experience combining something into, well, something.

Damian Wayne could and would use chemical warfare against villains and brothers-in-arms alike. But that wasn’t going to help him if he wanted to get these ratios right. Nothing would.

“Hey Damian, what’re you working on?”

But he’d be damned before he let someone else help out.

“Nothing, Grayson. You’d understand if you had pets.”

This wasn’t even remotely close to what Damian was doing, but he had tried to homemake dog treats before (and he totally hadn’t pouted when Titus didn’t seem interested) so maybe Grayson would buy that cover story, and leave him alone. Grayson had checked on Damian one too many times recently, and Damian needed him to stop trying to be so helpful.

“Okay then. Just checking in.”

Damian could hear Grayson’s footsteps recede from behind him. He was alone again. Ideal working conditions.

The real problem was coming from the way he was trying to make these perfect for Marinette. Bath bombs were so tricky.

Various ingredients were in front of him on the table he was working at, and not for the first time, he wondered if having a normal childhood would have prepared him for this mess of gift-giving. Whether a trip to the beach might’ve informed the way he now tried to pack the unwieldy mixture together.

No matter how many times Damian ran his fingers through the materials and cupped handfuls together, it wouldn’t stick. He wasn’t even trying to form shapes anymore. Just as long as it would stick together, he’d be happy.

Obviously, the clumps meant something was wrong, but he wasn’t sure _what._ His silent frustration with the process was becoming too much to handle, and so he decided that maybe trying to salvage his work would be better than trying to force it to act correctly.

Perusing his options, Damian wanted something more liquid-y to add, in the hopes that it would soften things up. Water was meant to dissolve the bath bomb, but maybe a few drops wouldn’t hurt? Enough to ease the process, not enough to wreck the mixture?

He carefully measured out a small amount of water from the sink at the back wall, and hastily walked back to his seat at the table to add it in.

Damian poured the smallest stream of water he could from the measuring cup into his bowl, and felt his scowl returning through his calm façade as the mixture began to fizz.

He’d have to throw this batch out, too.

Heavy footfalls marked a new presence: Todd was back from wherever he’d been for the past two days.

He rapped on the doorframe, causing Damian to sigh exasperatedly.

“Tt. What do you want, Todd?”

“Well, Dickiebird told me to come down here and make sure you weren’t building a secret underground meth lab without the rest of us,” Todd said.

Damian folded his arms crossly, defensive mechanisms activated. “I doubt any of you would actually be able to assist with that.”

The doorframe squeaked a little, and Damian knew without turning around that Jason Todd was now leaned up against it.

“He actually just told me you’ve been pretty touchy while I’ve been gone, and seemed to think you missed me.”

“He thought wrong,” Damian responded with nonchalance.

“You sure? I’d miss me, if it were me.”

“No one missed you, Todd.”

A slapping sound—likely Jason’s hand on his chest—came from behind Damian, and then, “Ouch. You wound me.”

Damian turned his head to look at Jason out of the corner of his eye. “I’m not touchy.”

Jason raised his brows.

“…About your absence,” Damian clarified.

Jason nodded knowingly, before a smile started to creep across his face. “Wait a minute, are you making something for—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence!” Damian said.

Jason just laughed. “Look, how about you tell me what’s got your knife bent out of shape, and I can help you.”

Damian folded his arms again, and turned to faceJason more directly. “Do you know how to make bath bombs?”

Jason grinned. “Nope, but I swear—”

“Oh, my virgin ears.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“—That _I_ can follow a recipe.”

Damian blushed very faintly. He’d had a good reason for not following one! How else was he supposed to make something unique for his girlfriend? Something that was special for her?

Jason leaned back away from the doorframe, and sauntered forward to toss out Damian’s faulty batch.

“If you tell Grayson, I’ll—”

“Kill me? Yes. I’d like to see you try. But you don’t have to worry. I’m not sharing a thing.”

The brothers worked in tandem for a while cleaning up the work station, completing tasks in silence.

“C’mon now, demon spawn, open up,” Jason coaxed with a wicked grin.

Damian just scowled at him. “Tt. It’s not that important.”

They sat down at the table, and Jason began to flick through his phone, hopefully for a recipe to follow on forming bath bombs.

“Everyone’s feelings are important. Even yours, heart-of-ice. Pretend like I’m your therapist.”

“I don’t have one,” Damian said. He felt the desire to pick a fight with Todd leave his system. “You’d make a terrible therapist anyway.”

Jason shrugged and showed Damian his phone screen. “I’m terrible at a lot of things. Here. Your recipe.”

“Tt. I might be mad that I’m terrible at this.”

“Really?” Jason asked as he began to search for some more coconut oil. “You’ve never been the crafty type.”

“I’m not. It’s for Marinette. Dupain-Cheng.”

“Ahhh, your girlfriend. I should’ve known.”

Damian breathed out a frustrated noise, and just scrolled through the recipe Jason had pulled up. It didn’t seem like it should be too hard to do, something that contrasted greatly with his previous attempts at mixing the bath bombs.

“It’s sweet, you know,” Jason commented. “I think you two are good for each other.”

Damian felt a little more easygoing then. A little less frustrated. But only just.

“If you really want to help me, Todd, bring me a mold. To set these in.”

Jason swiped his phone back from Damian’s hands. “You should get some better essential oils for her then. Or maybe glitter? Are you going to color them?”

“Stop telling me what to do. I will decide,” Damian said. It was so hard to let go of all his defensiveness around Jason Todd.

“Suit yourself,” Jason said. He put his phone up to his ear, and starting speaking immediately to Alfred.

Damian was convinced that Jason was only using this to guilt him into being nicer, as a trick, until he heard noise at the other end of the line.

“Yes, uh,” Jason glanced Damian’s way before speaking again. “Do you have any molds? Like for candy, or ice, or chocolate or something?”

Damian, then lacking any self-control, swiped Todd’s phone back from him, and held it to his own ear.

“Alfred. It’s an emergency. If you do have a mold, I’m making bath bombs for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Jason easily stole back his phone to complete the call.

“You really are distressed, aren’t ya, demon spawn?” Jason goaded.

“I just want to finish them. Marinette is always doing nice things for me. I want to do this for her.” Damian stared pointedly at Jason. It’s not like Jason was in a relationship. He couldn’t know how this was so important and such a hassle at the same time.

“And as I said, I think it’s sweet.”

Damian was spared from feeling the need to defend his decisions anymore when Alfred strode into the room, with three different molding options.

“Master Damian, Master Jason, I hope you’ll put these to good use,” Alfred said, holding the molds out toward them with a twinkle in his eye. “Be sure to tell me what Miss Dupain-Cheng thinks.”

Damian nodded solemnly. “Thank you, Alfred.”

“Yeah, thanks Alfred,” Jason echoed.

Alfred paused for a moment before leaving, looking at the brothers fondly. At the end of the day, they really did love each other, didn’t they?

Jason and Damian worked together to mix ingredients, heat oils, and berate each other. Working like this with Dick Grayson would’ve been intolerable.

“Hm,” Jason mused, looking over at some previous trial-run ingredients Damian had moved to the far edge of the table. “You didn’t try using scented hand soap to make these, did you?”

Damian’s face hardened. “Tt! Of course not!”

“I didn’t think so,” was Jason’s cheeky response.

“Not for the final product, anyway,” Damian amended under his breath.

Jason wisely chose not to comment further on the subject. “What were you trying to do for her specifically?”

Damian took his turn to mix the mixture. “I wanted glitter. I stole some from Brown.”

Jason looked impressed.

“And I wanted to use something that smelled sweet, but not enough to make her gag.”

“Didn’t she grow up in a bakery?” Jason asked.

Damian nodded, and looked over the recipe again.

“Then stay away from that, I guess. You know, I bet Dick has some essential oils…”

Damian’s brows creased. “I’m not asking him.”

“Well if you don’t want a repeat of your disaster before I stepped in to help, then you’re gonna have to ask him.”

Damian used his fifty-yard stare on Jason. There was no _way_ he was asking Grayson, or admitting that he had been failing at something for the past few days under his brother’s nose.

Jason pretended to be exasperated, but grabbed his phone back to make a second phone call.

“Dick? Yeah. I’m with him now. Give us your essential oils.” Jason eyed Damian, a glint in his eyes. “We’re making bath bombs. Ha. If you can make it down here in thirty seconds I _might_ give you five bucks.”

Damian sat back in his seat, and folded his arms. “I cannot believe you just betrayed me.”

“Really? No jest about how ‘in character’ it is for me?”

Damian sneered. “No. That would be low of me.”

“Ah, demon spawn, you do care for me!” Jason looked ecstatic. His teasing tone couldn’t hide the genuine joy he felt at Damian’s declaration.

“I care for Marinette. I _tolerate_ you.”

After about a minute, Dick Grayson strode into the room with a fancy little box in his hands. Setting it down on the table top, he took the lid off to reveal about a dozen different essential oils.

“Are you making these for Titus, Damian? That’s so sweet of you!” Grayson gushed.

“Yes,” Damian said, as Jason said—

“Nope.”

Dick looked between his two brothers. “Nice try, Jason, but Damian—” Dick tried to ruffle Damian’s hair (his hand got batted away) “—already told me that this was for his pets.”

Jason leaned back in his chair, and grinned as he said, “Looks like he lied to you, Dickiebird. These are for his girlfriend.”

“I’ll gut you alive, Todd!” Damian brandished the spatula at him.

“Woah!” Dick intervened. “Damian, why didn’t you say so? I can help you choose some oils for her, let’s see…” He began to pull out and inspect the scents on the little bottles. “Frankincense is good. Or clove? Maybe lavender…”

Damian crossed his arms begrudgingly. How was this gift supposed to be ‘from him’ if every member of his family contributed? Sure, Marinette was wildly understanding and wouldn’t reject a gift, but Damian wanted it to be perfect. He wasn’t one for half effort.

Jason had been eying Dick’s progress, and reached out to grab one that hadn’t been considered yet. He unscrewed the lid and took a whiff. His eyes watered. He carefully screwed the lid back on and read the label.

“Eucalyptus. Good god above that is potent.”

“Tt.” Damian didn’t particularly care. He had thought about something like rose or, well, he had _only_ entertained the idea of scenting them with rose, but now, with all of this variety, he wondered whether he couldn’t be more strategic about it.

“Don’t overthink it, Damian,” Jason cut across Damian’s introspection.

“What does she like?” Dick asked, having picked through about half of his collection.

“No, screw that, Dick, what do you want the bath bomb experience to be like for her, Damian?” Jason asked.

Damian looked between his brothers. “Any decent bath bomb should cause relaxation. That’s what I want to give her.”

“Then why don’t you—”

“Shut it Dick.” Jason smacked the back of his head. “Don’t go giving our _baby_ brother any bad ideas.”

Dick looked offended. “I would never! I was just going to suggest that Damian should smell all of them, and decide which ones he thinks are relaxing. She might appreciate a handpicked combination.”

Damian was inclined to agree with Grayson’s assessment. It would be ideal to have as much of this operation salvaged from other peoples’ hands and put back into his own. It would be most genuinely _his_ to do so. But as he reached for one of the bottles, Jason interjected.

“It’s like neither of you are keen on using the internet. Do you know how much Bruce is paying for our phone plans? Use them!” He had a teasing tone when discussing the money, but Jason was evidently very serious about making use of the internet because he began to search online for tried and true combinations of essential oils for relaxation.

Damian was also inclined to agree with Todd. He wouldn’t want to mess this up just because his intuition on what was relaxing to Marinette was off… Not that there was anything wrong with his sense of smell, of course.

Jason turned his phone to Damian. “Pick some. I am going to force Dick to remix this. Again,” he gave a pointed look in Damian’s direction, referencing his multiple previous batches, “because we have wasted a lot of time getting this oil situation handled.”

Damian glanced up at Todd, and then at Grayson. He had an idea. Grayson might not approve if the idea came from him, but Todd was a good vehicle for managing mayhem.

He stood up sharply, making Dick wary of impending attitude, but he needn’t have worried. Damian walked over to Jason and whispered in his ear.

Jason just smirked at Damian. “I’ll take care of it.”

Damian began to sort out materials once again, and took over the process of tossing out the old bowl of unmade bath bombs to restart his process.

“What did I just miss?” Dick had a curious expression on his face, likely hiding suspicion or skepticism. He was very fatherly like that.

“Oh, demon spawn was too embarrassed to admit that he wanted to be the one whose hands are doing the actual work for his sweetheart.” Jason batted his eyes toward the busy Damian, who just ignored him. “And he asked me to do the tedious task of finding three scents based on the Google search I conducted that would help with relaxation.”

“Ah.”

Damian couldn’t tell if Dick believed this explanation or not. Obviously Damian wanted to be the main player in making _his_ gift. But was Jason complaining about selecting oils something Dick would think Damian would’ve secretly forced him to do?

Out of a job to help the process, Dick stood there awkwardly as Jason manhandled his private essential oil collection, and seemed very confused as to what to do with himself besides monitor things.

“Do you use these often? They feel full,” Jason said.

“I do. You don’t need much to get an effect, you know.” Dick watched Jason read label after label, setting aside several bottles. He could tell that one of them was lavender. A classic. “Look, do you guys have anything I could do to help?”

Since Dick was looking imploringly at Jason, he missed the smirk Damian wore. And when it dissipated back into his neutral expression and Dick turned to look imploringly at him, he missed Jason’s equally malicious smirk.

“You could get some coloring element. Or you could grab some glitter,” Jason offered, smirk mostly vanished.

“Hmmm,” Dick mused. “How about like, a vegetable-based product for the color? I think that’s more environmentally friendly, and it should be good interacting with skin…I know we’ve got turmeric?”

“Could be interesting,” came Damian’s noncommittal response.

“Or if you’re going for pink, we could probably use beetroot powder? I think?”

“Do you?” Jason teased.

“Get both, Grayson.” Damian felt like more variety would be more aesthetically pleasing to Marinette. Pink was a must-have, but the yellow of the turmeric would be great for spicing up the color palette.

“Gotcha,” Dick said. “Also Jason, you owe me five bucks.”

“You were late, so no. And I never guaranteed…” Jason just shrugged as he compared the scents of Marjoram and Sandalwood.

Dick sighed, and went in search of the two powders they would be using to color the bath bombs.

Damian stared over at Jason. “Todd. Get the glitter now, while he isn’t here to see. And maybe you’ll earn your keep of your five dollar bill.”

Jason just laughed. He left quickly, and barely made it back into the room before Dick did. He had barely placed the glitter on a far part of the counter near the sink, and now played it off like he was just over there to drink directly from the faucet.

“Okay, I’ve got them both. And did you want to put sprinkles in? For decor?”

“Would you want soggy sprinkles in your bathtub?” Damian asked.

“No. You’re right. Just thought I’d ask.”

“You could find that glitter though,” Jason said with mirth.

Dick nodded. “What am I looking for?”

“I could’ve sworn there was some in here.” Jason’s casual air suggested that nothing was amok.

Dick surveyed the room, until his eyes widened with shock. Target acquired. He strode over to the counter space next to the sink and snatched up the bottle of glitter.

“This is not supposed to be here! Bruce banned this glitter after Stephanie got it everywhere in her East Wing bedroom…”

Damian looked over at it. “Tough. I think that these bath bombs need it. For an element of fun.”

Dick looked incredulous. “She doesn’t even know it’s here does she…”

“Of course not,” Jason said. “This is a surprise gift.”

“Did you set me up? Steph will be so mad if she catches me with her stuff. Especially if Bruce confiscates it!”

“If I confiscate what?”

Bruce Wayne was on the scene, looking exhausted. He looked worse than Tim, who was right behind him.

Dick looked dumbfounded. Damian was now even more focused on quickly mixing the oil together with the other ingredients. Jason was a little more tense in his shoulders, but still projected insane amounts of nonchalance.

Tim stepped around Bruce, surveying the situation. After some mental gymnastics, he patted Bruce on the shoulder. “They’re just hoping you don’t confiscate Damian’s craft.”

Bruce looked so lost. “Damian’s—wait. Is this what you’ve been holed up in here doing for the past few days? A craft?”

Damian let out a deep breath. “Obviously.”

Dick had hidden the glitter behind him, and cheerily suggested that it was for ‘a special someone’.

“Ah.” Bruce began to blush faintly. “I have no experience handcrafting, well, gifts. Good luck. I won’t be confiscating that then. Miss Dupain-Cheng is very lucky to have you.”

Tim tiredly guided Bruce out of the room with one hand on his back, and briefly turned back to face his brothers. He mouthed at Dick, _I saw the glitter. I won’t tell Steph._

All three just looked at each other once Bruce and Tim had gone and exchanged sheepish smiles.

“We might’ve set you up,” Jason conceded. “But you’re the one with evidence in your hands.”

“If Drake hadn’t saved you you’d be dead,” Damian pointed out with the smallest degree of glee.

Dick just rolled his eyes. “How much should I add, then?”

“Enough. I don’t want to give her something gaudy.” Damian was very focused on incorporating the two powders into separated mixtures. “Todd! Add the oils.”

Jason took on a breathy voice. “Anything you say.”

Dick looked at him. “Stop! Didn’t you just berate me about saying weird stuff like that in front of our ‘ _baby_ brother?’”

Jason added drops of oil to the divided mixture, and batted his lashes at Dick. “Anything you say, Dick,” he said in the same affected way.

Dick cringed. “No seriously, stop. Use your own voice.”

“Tt. I’m already a legal adult. Don’t act like you know what behavior’s good to show around me,” Damian said.

“Yeah, Dick.” Jason was speaking normally again. “If demon spawn is mature enough to make a real gift for his girlfriend, maybe you shouldn’t tease him.”

Dick just rolled his eyes again. Brothers. What could you do? He just silently shook in an appropriate, moderate amount of glitter into each color, and stood back to watch the magic happen.

Then Damian and Jason had divided up the efforts of distributing the mixture into the molds. Damian handled the yellow, and Jason dished out the pink.

The molds were left in the middle of the table to dry for the next day. Hopefully they wouldn’t be gross and crumbly.

“This was fun,” Damian admitted with a straight face. “I thought it wouldn’t be very genuine of me to not make everything by myself. But this was… nice.”

“That’s good to hear,” said Dick, smiling at his youngest brother. “I think Marinette might appreciate them more if she knows you let us help,” he winked.

Damian, internally, had to begrudgingly agree. Marinette was the sort to enjoy communal activities and group projects. She was also a big advocate of doing things for other people. She would love that he and his brothers had collaborated on this for her.

“Look,” Dick clapped his hands together, “I’ll take one for the team and return the glitter to Steph. I think she’ll be more understanding about it if I explain this situation than you guys give her credit for.”

“I guess. Everybody else knows so why not continue to spread the tale?” Damian sounded disdainful.

Dick shook his head. “I won’t put a bad spin on the story. You know that.” He left with both the glitter and the natural coloring products, leaving Damian and Jason alone.

“Hey, Damian. I know you probably wanted to do this on your own for Marinette, but I promise you that girl will know that it was your idea, and she likely won’t give us—me and Dick—any credit at all. So you don’t have to worry about how she’ll take our group effort.”

Damian’s expression slowly turned less severe, then melted into something far softer than his normal demeanor. “She is very good at understanding. And since she likes giving gifts, I think you are right. She’ll probably be too…”

“Enamored?” Jason suggested with a cheeky grin.

“Yes,” Damian said, blushing very faintly. “She will be happy just for having been thought of. Not that I don’t think about her normally. Marinette does not get gifts from others very often, is what I think.”

Jason just nodded, taking Damian seriously since he was _really_ opening up for the first time during this whole process. He needed to be there for him while he was willing to contemplate these emotions and thoughts of his aloud. Bruce probably wouldn’t do the same, not now anyway. And Dick might overwhelm Damian, depending on how things went. But Jason was a good listener. He tried to be.

Damian leaned onto the back of one of the chairs, and pushed a hand through his hair. “I really like her. And I want things to go well moving forward.”

Nodding, Jason said, “Believe me. Marinette knows what this relationship means to you. There is nothing, nothing to prove to her. You don’t have to earn her love. You have it. I can guarantee that.”

Damian’s blush increased just a little. “Your vote of confidence is worth a lot.” Damian locked eyes with Jason.

Some understanding passed between them then.

Beyond brotherhood, they had both experienced some brutal kinds of love. Whatever had passed for love at the time. It connected them more than they were usually wont to admit. To not have to prove their worth anymore, it took unlearning. Rigorous unlearning. The sort you can’t do on your own.

“Anytime,” Jason said. The spell was broken, but the message was there. They both knew it.

“Now,” Damian commandeered, steering their conversation back to something more palatable. “When they are dry, I need to find a way to deliver them to her.”

“That’s not hard. I could take you on my motorcycle,” Jason suggested teasingly.

Damian scoffed. “As if. I’ll go to her university on my own. I’m talking about—” He gestured to the drying bath bombs.

“Packaging them?”

“Aesthetically,” Damian affirmed.

Jason breathed out. “Okay. I don’t have anything like that, but I could scrounge something up if you want.”

A blank look was the only response Damian gave.

“Or did you only want suggestions for how to do it?”

Damian nodded stiffly. “Yes. Suggestions.”

Scratching his head with one hand, Jason thought for a moment. “What about colored tissue paper?”

“And if we don’t have any?” Damian challenged. The hostility was back. He no longer felt emotionally vulnerable.

Jason just gave a small smile. “If we don’t, you could nick a fancy napkin from Alfred’s stash to arrange them in.”

Damian nodded. “He might lend one if asked by me. She would give it back freshly laundered, no doubt.”

“But since you didn’t read the recipe properly, I’m assuming, I’ll just remind you that you need to keep them in an airtight container. So you should deliver them in one.”

Damian put his hands on his hips and stalked out of the room. Jason followed, shutting off the light and closing the door.

“What’re you thinking?” Jason asked.

“Tt. What am I _not_ thinking?” Damian paced back and forth, and then continued on to the stairwell, Jason still in tow. “Big mason jars. They’re airtight.”

“And she’s definitely the kind of girl to like those,” Jason added.

“Exactly. Quit following me, Todd.” Damian turned around to face his brother, and after a brief, two-second stare down, quickly enveloped Jason into a hug. “Thanks,” he said, muffled into Jason’s shirt.

Jason hugged him back. “No problem demon spawn.”

He ruffled Damian’s hair, and then stepped away, laughing.

“My threat to gut you alive still stands!” Damian shouted after him, smoothing his hair back into its normalcy.

* * *

The next day in the late afternoon, Jason had somehow beaten Damian to investigating how well the bath bombs had set. They were indeed not crumbly, and an overall success.

“Pretty good for your, what, seventeenth attempt?” Jason asked.

“Whatever. I got it on the first try.”

Damian had managed to procure a few large mason jars, and now worked with Jason to delicately remove all of the bath bombs from their molds, and place them gently into the jars. They only wound up filling two, with a third holding only four more of the smaller ones.

“Get me a smaller jar for them,” Damian instructed.

“Yeah, yeah. Or you could keep them!”

“No way. These are all for Marinette.”

Jason did find one with relative ease and returned back to this small kitchenette of a room at the back of the manor.

“If you won’t let me drive you there, then at least tell her I say hi?”

Damian rolled his eyes. “Of course. She’ll probably ask about everyone.”

“Because she’s nice,” Jason said, following Damian to the door.

Damian lifted the jars, which he was holding in a precarious manner, up toward Jason. “Obviously. That’s why I’m doing this.”

“Good luck,” Jason called after him.

“Tt! As if! I don’t need luck,” Damian answered back over his shoulder.

He made his way to where his car was parked, deposited the jars, and sighed. Moving into the driver’s seat, he swiped around on his phone screen until he could double check her university schedule. He didn’t think she had any evening classes, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. There were none listed, but that didn’t stop Damian from wondering whether Marinette had something else planned anyway. She was probably more socially involved than he would be, so he would not be surprised if when he showed up to her apartment that she was out for the night.

He drove smoothly through the early evening traffic, and took several byways to escape the worst of the post-work back ups. Gotham University loomed in the distance, an impressive campus. But that wasn’t Damian’s ultimate destination.

Marinette’s apartment complex sat nearby the university, but not exactly next to it. She didn’t have a car, but the distance wasn’t terrible for walking.

They had met at university, she and him. This semester however, he had been doing an internship for university credit, and was nearly graduated. Marinette still had a few more semesters of her intensive program, so they didn’t get to see each other as often.

So times like these, they both relished. Damian just hoped she’d be home.

He pulled into the parking lot of her complex, and eased his way around, looking for visitor parking. Damian always forgot where it was located, which was made harder by there being three official visitor sections, which were typically all full. But maybe, if the extra spot for Marinette’s apartment was open…

Maybe Jason’s wish of good luck hadn’t been for nothing after all. Her spot was open. Damian had never before been so grateful that his girlfriend didn’t own a car.

He parked, and dug around through his trunk for a reusable grocery bag, something that Alfred had been quick to supply for every one of Bruce’s children, legal or otherwise, when they had their own vehicle. Finding it, Damian went around to the passenger side and arranged the three mason jars inside.

Damian locked his car behind him, and mounted the stairs to Marinette’s.

He anxiously smoothed his hair when he was finally stopped in front of her door, and knocked thrice. Laughter and footsteps sounded inside the apartment. He listened carefully, but couldn’t discern who was approaching the door the way Drake probably would’ve been able to.

The door cracked open, revealing a vivacious blonde-haired woman. Ah. Chloe Bourgeois.

“Bourgeois,” Damian greeted.

“Wayne,” Chloe responded, in kind, down her nose at him. “Marinette!” She called into the apartment. “Did you have a hot date tonight you didn’t tell me about?”

“No…,” came Marinette’s response from somewhere inside. “Wait a minute.”

More rapid footsteps, then Chloe moved out of the way, and Marinette launched herself at Damian.

“Oh my gosh! Damian! I haven’t seen you in what feels like ages! How are you?” She pulled back from the hug slightly and smiled at him. “Come on in, don’t be a stranger.”

Damian did as she asked, carrying the bag by the straps in front of him still. Chloe gave them both a particular look, and then disappeared into the back of the apartment.

“Would you like some water?”

“No, I’m good, thank you. How are you doing?” He asked.

“So busy! Midterms suck, as usual.” Marinette shrugged with a smile on her face.

They made their way into the living room area and sat down on a couch.

“Marinette, I came by to give you these.” Damian paused his opening of the bag. She did look pleased. “Here, could you close your eyes? I’d like to surprise you.”

“Okay!” She closed her eyes and waited patiently. Patiently, but excited.

Damian carefully lifted the jars out of the bag and set them on the coffee table. He arranged them so the smallest one was in front, and then folded the bag, setting it off to the side.

“Alright, Marinette, you may open your eyes.”

Marinette withdrew her hands from her face, and opened her eyes.

“Damian! These are so cute!” She turned to him, eyes shining. “Did you make them?”

Damian smiled. “I did. And what’s more, Todd and Grayson helped. So did Alfred.”

Marinette hugged him tightly. He withdrew from the hug just barely enough so he could kiss her instead, and—

It was so nice to see her again.

They parted, eyes dancing.

“They’re amazing,” she gushed.

Smiling, Damian reached for one of the bigger jars, and started to unscrew the lid. “You should smell them before final judgment is passed.”

Marinette laughed. It was obvious she would like them no matter what, but she obliged. He lifted the jar toward her, leaving it low so it wouldn’t get shoved too close to her face. Marinette bent down a little and inhaled, wafting the scent toward her nose with one hand.

“Oh wow. That’s so, so nice. I can smell lavender, but I’m not sure what else—?”

“Me neither,” Damian confessed. “Todd was in charge of picking oils for relaxation.”

Marinette looked very happy. “Thank you so much! This is so sweet of you!”

Damian shrugged. He was blushing more now than he had in total over the span of working on these with Todd and Grayson. “I’d do anything for you. It was fun.”

“Chloe will be jealous. She’s a big fan of homemade beauty products.”

Damian smiled at Marinette. “If you must share, you could probably give her the small jar. But they are yours to do as you wish.”

“Did you try any?” Marinette asked curiously.

“No…”

“Would you like to take one back with you? Or more than one, if you want?”

“It’s okay. I might make more. Hanging out with Todd was nice. And I think I want to try to do that more often.”

Marinette nodded. Damian loved his brothers truly, but sometimes it was difficult to think of something that didn’t involve work or patrol for them to properly spend time together.

“He says hi, by the way,” Damian said.

“Aw. That’s nice of him.”

Damian made a noncommittal noise. “Todd’s a genuinely nice person when he wants to be.”

“Ah yes. Which I assume is all the time, since I’ve never seen him be anything but.” Marinette stood up, and Damian did the same. “I’m going to take these into my room… How much time do you have tonight? Do you want to do something? Go out on the town?”

Damian slipped into an easy smile. “I have as much time as you have free. But if you’ve got early class tomorrow…”

“I don’t!” Marinette said, and left to take the jars into her room with a wink.

He could overhear her offering the smaller jar to Chloe, who sounded ecstatic about the bath bombs. He was glad then that he hadn’t followed Todd’s advice and kept it for himself.

Marinette came back into the main area to find Damian getting a drink of water after all.

“So? What do you think?” She asked him.

Damian finished his glass, and then answered, “We could go out if you’d like. I haven’t had dinner. I take it you haven’t either?”

“Nope!” Marinette grinned. “We could try that Greek place if you want.”

“Sounds great to me. You good to stop for ice cream after?”

“Always. You know I can’t resist that.”

Coat in hand moments later, Marinette bid her goodbyes to Chloe, amending that she did have a hot date after all. She and Damian slipped out into the night hand in hand.

“Thanks for the bath bombs,” Marinette said, kissing his cheek before stepping into his car.

“I’d make anything for an excuse to see you,” Damian said, smiling fondly at her.

Spontaneous date nights with Marinette were the best.


End file.
